Time: 9.00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

In the changing landscape of the HE and FE sector, many new roles are appearing to support and advise our students. The guiding roles of academic faculty and central services are also being re-defined and explored. UKAT’s first autumn conference aims to explore the current trends and methods of student advice, support and guidance, consider the broader context of student success, attainment and retention, and promote the sharing of experiences and innovative practice.

United Kingdom Advising and Tutoring is a professional body of practitioners and researchers interested in all aspects of advising and personal tutoring in FE and HE in the UK. UKAT recognises that effective personal tutoring and academic advising is at the core of student success, and aspires to lead the development and dissemination of innovative theory, research, and practice of student advising and tutoring in the UK and beyond.

Conference Fees

£90 - Non UKAT Members (Fee includes automatic membership until March 2016)£80 - UKAT Members (Attenders of NACADA Drive in event Sheffield 2015)£30 - Full-time students

This email and any attachments to it are confidential to the intended recipient and may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete this email from your system and notify the sender. The Association of Commonwealth Universities is a UK registered charity (registered charity number 314137) whose Patron is Her Majesty The Queen, the Head of the Commonwealth.

This session will explore the use of assessment criteria by experienced markers. Sue will draw on a recent study which identified five factors in the use of criteria that contribute to marking inconsistency. The implications for fairness, standards and guidance to students will be discussed. Discussion will also take place on alternatives and enhancements to assessment criteria as typically used in higher education.

Starting UTC 07:00am (5PM Eastern Australian standard) time for 1 hour. Further information, time zone conversions and registration viahttp://ta.vu/4nov2015

3) Call for 2016 speakers: Academics and professional staff interested in presenting innovations and experiences related to e-Assessment in higher and further education are encouraged to email their topic and preferred month to mathew.hillier[at]monash.edu (replace [at] with @). Most sessions occur on the first Wednesday of the month starting at UTC 07:00 (5PM Eastern Australian standard) time. Note we prefer interactive sessions in the style of 'by academics for academics' exploring coal face experiences rather than vendor presentations.

------------------------------- Further information: The Transforming Assessment webinars are part of a series of free events covering a range of e-assessment topics. Further information on this and future events, recordings of past sessions, project information and participation/technical help on using the virtual seminar system can be found on our website at transformingassessment.com

Acknowledgements: Support for this activity has been provided by the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (as the 'e-Assessment SIG'), the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching, RMIT University, Monash University and the University of Queensland. The views expressed in this publication/activity do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring institutions. --------------------------------- Why am I receiving this? You are receiving this particular message because you signed up to one of the lists on JISCmail and we feel the content is likely to be of interest to list members. Please refer to your control panel on jiscmail.ac.uk for JISCmail list subscription options.

Thursday, 15 October 2015

CAPD Educational Research Seminar

Philippa is a Lecturer in Digital Education, and a member of the Digital Cultures in Education (DiCE) research group, at the University of Edinburgh. Her research interests are interdisciplinary, based in the area of digital and higher education, but drawing on organisational theory, cultural geography, and social theories of time. In 2014 she was awarded a Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE) newer researchers prize to fund the research project, 'Global gatherings and digital divides: internationalisation and the digital in higher education'.

Thursday 12 November 2015

Global gatherings and digital divides: internationalisation and the digital in higher education

Venue: Centre for Academic and Professional Development, Room3.11, Francis Bancroft Building, Queen Mary University of London Mile End campus.

Please register for this seminar via Eventbrite or email the CAPD at capd@qmul.ac.uk– lunch will be provided for those who book, so please let us know if you have any specific dietary requirements.

About the seminar:

This paper is drawn from a wider research project which problematises the discourse of 'internationalisation' in higher education (Haigh 2014) by drawing on issues of geopolitics and the digital. Philippa will argue that, in order to open up new ways of thinking about internationalisation through the digital, we first need to recognise the complex practices of making education international.

I am writing to invite you to attend the above seminar. Please note there is a charge for most delegates, although concessionary and complimentary places are available (subject to terms and conditions - see below).

This seminar will bring together key policymakers with stakeholders from industry and the Higher Education sector to assess the future of computer science teaching in HE.

The review’s lead, Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, has kindly agreed to give a keynote address at the seminar.

A full transcript of the proceedings of this conference, together with short papers contributed by delegates, will be sent to all attendees following the seminar - and shared with further Government officials and regulators most involved in the progress of policy in these areas, and with interested ministerial offices and Parliamentarians.

Key areas for discussion include:

·Key benchmarks that should be included in the accreditation of computer science degrees;

·Balanced course design and addressing the challenge of keeping course content up to date with innovation in the sector;

·Strategies for improving the employability of computer science graduates through work experience opportunities and improving their readiness for work; and

·Steps to improve the diversity of the computer science workforce, particularly with regard to BAME representation.

The draft agenda is copied below my signature, and a regularly updated version is available to download here. The seminar is organised on the basis of strict impartiality by the Westminster Higher Education Forum.

Speakers

We are delighted to be able to include in this seminar a keynote address from: Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Lead, The Shadbolt Review of Computer Science Degree Accreditation and Graduate Employability.

Further confirmed speakers include: Phillip Donnelly, Managing Director, Step Enterprise; Professor Susan Eisenbach, Head of Department of Computing, Imperial College London; Dr Bill Mitchell, Director of Education, BCS - The Chartered Institute for IT; Sally Smith, Head of School of Computing, Edinburgh Napier University and Chair, Council of Professors and Heads of Computing; Paul Swaddle, Chief Executive Officer, PocketApp and Professor Jon Whittle, Head of Computing and Communications, Lancaster University.

Additional senior participants are being approached.

Networking

This seminar will present an opportunity to engage with key policymakers and other interested parties, and is CPD certified (more details). Due to attend are representatives from LShift; Plymouth University; The IET; The Open University; University of Hull and University of Warwick.

Overall, we expect speakers and attendees to be a senior and informed group numbering around 120, including Members of both Houses of Parliament and officials from BIS and other Government departments and agencies, university and college leaders; academics and other higher education professionals; representatives from students’ unions; businesses and their advisors; interest groups and the voluntary sector; along with commentators and reporters from the national and trade press.

Output and About Us

A key output of the seminar will be a transcript of the proceedings, sent out around 10 working days after the event to all attendees and a wider group of Ministers and officials at the DfE, BIS and the Government Office for Science and other government departments; officials at HEFCE and other agencies affected by the issues; and Parliamentarians with a special interest in these areas. It will also be made available more widely. This document will include transcripts of all speeches and questions and answers sessions from the day, along with access to PowerPoint presentations, speakers’ biographies, an attendee list, an agenda, sponsor information, as well as any subsequent press coverage of the day and any articles or comment pieces submitted by delegates. It is made available subject to strict restrictions on public use, similar to those for Select Committee Uncorrected Evidence, and is intended to provide timely information for interested parties who are unable to attend on the day.

All delegates will receive complimentary PDF copies and are invited to contribute to the content.

The Westminster Higher Education Forum is strictly impartial and cross-party, and draws on the considerable support it receives from within Parliament and Government, and amongst the wider stakeholder community. The Forum has no policy agenda of its own. Forum events are frequently the platform for major policy statements from senior Ministers, regulators and other officials, opposition speakers and senior opinion-formers in industry and interest groups. Events regularly receive prominent coverage in the national and trade press.

Once submitted, this will be taken as a confirmed booking and will be subject to our terms and conditions below.

Please pay in advance by credit card on 01344 864796. If advance credit card payment is not possible, please let me know and we may be able to make other arrangements.

Options and charges are as follows:

·Places at Next steps for computer science teaching in Higher Education - accreditation, course design and employability(including refreshments and PDF copy of the transcripts) are £210 plus VAT;

·Concessionary rate places for small charities, unfunded individuals and those in similar circumstances are £80 plus VAT. Please be sure to apply for this at the time of booking.

For those who cannot attend:

·Copies of the briefing document, including full transcripts of all speeches and the questions and comments sessions and further articles from interested parties, will be available approximately 10 days after the event for £95 plus VAT;

·Concessionary rate: £50 plus VAT.

If you find the charge for places a barrier to attending, please let me know as concessionary and complimentary places are made available in certain circumstances (but do be advised that this typically applies to individual service users or carers or the like who are not supported by or part of an organisation, full-time students, people between jobs or who are fully retired with no paid work, and representatives of small charities - not businesses, individuals funded by an organisation, or larger charities/not-for-profit companies). Please note terms and conditions below (including cancellation charges).

I do hope that you will be able to join us for what promises to be a most useful morning, and look forward to hearing from you soon.

This email and any attached files are intended solely for the use of the entity or individual to whom they are addressed. Opinions or views are those of the individual sender and, unless specifically stated, do not necessarily represent those of the Westminster Higher Education Forum. If you have received this email in error please notify info@forumsupport.co.uk.

FINANCIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS: The delegate fee includes copies of the presentations via PDF and refreshments. Cancellation policy is as follows: (1) cancellations 14 or more days before the event: £70+VAT cancellation fee per delegate; (2) cancellations less than 14 days before the event: no refunds. Cancellations must be notified in writing to the Westminster Higher Education Forum. No charge will be made for replacement delegates. Transfer of any confirmed booking between events is not possible. The organisers reserve the right to alter the programme and change the speakers without prior notice. The Westminster Higher Education Forum is unable to grant extended credit and therefore must request that full payment be made within 30 days from the date of invoice. Should payment not be received within 30 days from the date of invoice, the Westminster Higher Education Forum will apply an administration charge of £40+VAT, likewise for payments made to our account in error.

What are the key benchmarks that should be included in the accreditation of computer science degrees, and how should the sector contribute to deciding these? How best should new forms of higher education provision be regulated and accredited with regard to computer science courses? In a fast evolving sector, how can regulators ensure that degrees and the accreditation system remain up to date with the latest innovations and processes? How appropriate is the current balance between ensuring the inclusion of key information in computer science curriculums and supporting the development of creative course design and delivery? How can originality in course design be better supported within the accreditation system?

Professor Susan Eisenbach, Head of Department of Computing, Imperial College London

Dr Bill Mitchell, Director of Education, BCS - The Chartered Institute for IT

Senior representative, employer

Questions and comments from the floor

10.15 - 10.35

Computer science degree accreditation: the system now and thoughts on the future

In light of perceptions by some employers that computer science graduates lack the ‘soft skills’ needed to succeed in recruitment processes and professional environments, what steps can universities take to embed these skills within their degrees? How can universities address concerns that the Teaching Excellence Framework will discourage the involvement of individuals with industry experience in the delivery of degrees? How can greater opportunities for industry experience be integrated into degrees and do employers need to better engage with universities in order to provide work experience opportunities? What are the causes of the higher unemployment rate of black and minority ethnic computer science graduates in comparison to white graduates and what steps can be taken to tackle this disparity? How should industry-specific Higher Apprenticeships coexist with the university-lead model of computer science provision? How can universities contribute to CPD provision in the industry?

Professor Jon Whittle, Head of Computing and Communications, Lancaster University

Phillip Donnelly, Managing Director, Step Enterprise

Sally Smith, Head of School of Computing, Edinburgh Napier University and Chair, Council of Professors and Heads

The debate format of this TLC will provide participants with an opportunity to experience something different to the common, single room, large group webinar format by using breakout rooms to allow small groups to discuss the topic and formulate questions to put to the debate leaders. We hope that this will provide a very engaging and participatory webinar experience and give lots of opportunities to interact with other participants and the presenters.

Full details of this event and short positioning statements from Chrissi and Ale are available on the TLC blog:http://wp.me/p6HUdF-2I

We hope you will be able to join us.

How to join the debate

To attend and take part in the webinar debate simply follow the link to the TLC webinar room here: https://mmu.adobeconnect.com/tlc/To login: Chose the option to Enter as a guest, add your name, institution and country into the Name field and click on the “Enter Room” button.

A recording of the webinar will be made available at the same URL under a creative commons licence.

About Teaching & Learning Conversations

TLC is an exciting cross-institutional collaboration to provide open CPD opportunities for everybody teaching and/or supporting learning in Higher Education. To find out more please visit the TLC website at: https://tlcwebinars.wordpress.com/

Please feel free to share the link to the TLC programme and individual webinars with others who might also be interested. Further information and recordings from previous webinars can be found in the TLC archive at:https://tlcwebinars.wordpress.com/tlc-archive/

Do you make innovative use of technology in language teaching and learning? Have you been experimenting with MOOCs and wish to share your experiences? Do you use social networking sites, virtual worlds or mobile technology with your language students? Are you engaging students in the creation or use of open educational resources? If so, then the LLAS community would like to hear from you!

LLAS, Centre for Languages, Linguistics, and Area Studies welcomes proposals for presentations, workshops and posters at the 11th annual e-learning symposium, on 21/22 January, 2016. Abstracts for proposed presentations or workshops should be no more than 400 words.

Successful applicants will be notified by 31st October, 2015 and will be assigned a session on receipt of conference registration and fee. If you have any questions about this call for contributions or would like feedback on your draft abstract please contact K.Borthwick@soton.ac.uk before 5th October 2015.

Thursday, 1 October 2015

The Centre for Inclusion and Collaborative Partnerships (CICP) is committed to undertaking and supporting research and scholarship activity around the theme of widening participation. Alongside the publication of our Journal ‘Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning’, we run a regular seminar series aiming to promote discussion, dialogue and debate about current issues relating to widening participation.

Our fourth seminar in the series is entitled: “First in Family”, and will take place on Friday23rd October 2015, from 9.30am – 12 noon at the Open University’s Walton Hall campus, Milton Keynes. If you would like to attend, please contact us at: CICP-WP-Research-Seminars@open.ac.uk and further details will be provided.

-- The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt charity in England & Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302). The Open University is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.